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Tuesday, 29 January 2013

ECONOMY FAILS, ONE IN TEN GO HUNGRY

One in ten
people in Swaziland will go hungry this year as the kingdom struggles to feed
its population as the economy remains in the doldrums.

A total of 115,712
people face food shortages in 2012/2013, according to the Swaziland
Vulnerability Assessment Committee in a report. The number has increased by
88,511 from 2011.

The report highlights
problems with the Swazi economy as a major factor. It says that the kingdom is
too dependent on food imports and because of high price inflation in Swaziland
people cannot afford to buy food.

The report
predicts that more people will fall into hunger as prices continue to rise.

People in
Swaziland do not have enough choices for food supply and many are dependent on
subsistence farming and this makes families vulnerable to hunger.

‘The country’s
dependence on commodity imports for consumption requirements is not encouraged
as price shocks may reduce households’ access to food and increase food
insecurity,’ the report says.

Poor rains
played a part in the food crisis which meant less cereal was grown than is needed.
The lack of support services to help agricultural production contributed to the
problem, the report says.

Matsanjeni South MP Qedusizi Ndlovu also said at the time
that wherever he went people begged him for food.

In September
2012 the World Economic Forum, United Nations and the Institute for
Security Studies in separate reports said the Swazi government was largely to blame for the economic recession and subsequent increasing amount of Swazis who
have to skip meals was its fault.

The reports listed low growth levels, government
wastefulness and corruption, and lack of democracy and accountability as some
of the main reasons for the economic downturn that has led to as increasing
amount of hungry Swazis.